1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device including alignment layers controlling the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device, and an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device.
2. Related Art
Liquid crystal devices are used as, for example, light valves of liquid crystal projectors. A liquid crystal device includes a pair of substrates and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the substrates with a sealing member. Alignment layers controlling the orientation of liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer are disposed on the liquid crystal layer sides of the substrates. The alignment layers are made of an organic film, such as polyimide film.
In the liquid crystal device having such a structure, unfortunately, moisture, impurity ions, and polar materials permeate into a space between the substrate through the sealing member or the like. This accelerates the degradation of the alignment layers and the liquid crystal layer by strong light from the light source of the liquid crystal device, for example, a liquid crystal projector. In addition, those impurities reduce the hold capacitance and further reduce the resistance to increase the current, thus causing display failure. Accordingly, for example, JP-A-3-233428 discloses a technique in which porous inorganic particles are dispersed in the alignment layers to absorb moisture, impurity ions and polar materials.
This technique, however, cannot establish a satisfying alignment of the liquid crystal molecules around the inorganic particles. Consequently, problems, such as display failure, undesirably occur. For example, when black is displayed, light leakage occurs. Particularly in liquid crystal projectors, such display failure is conspicuous in enlarged images. In addition, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is increasingly reduced and finally to a degree smaller than the particle size of the inorganic particles. Consequently, inorganic particles cannot be used.